Capítulo 94: - Whispers and Rumors
"Where should we hole up for the night?"
Rian asked, looking around from building to building, hoping to lay eyes on an inn's front sign.
"I doubt we can travel through the night on these cliffs. Especially when we're so tired."
He was mostly speaking for himself, as he was practically drenched in sweat, while Lia and Lukali seemed just fine.
"There should be an inn nearby. But in the case there isn't, I'm certain the local Post has some rooms available."
Lukali pointed to a small square building situated in front of a much larger one filled with windows on one side.
It looked more like a large shack than it did a building, but Lia wasn't about to complain.
"I'll check if there are any nearby inn's. You guys go see if there's any rooms open in the Post."
Lia gestured to a separate set of buildings lined up against the cliff face, all of which looked just as shabby as the Hunter's Post.
Lukali and Rian nodded, before walking off towards the shack that called itself a Post, leaving Lia behind with her own thoughts.
Or rather, Cain's thoughts.
'You really are just a brick wall to anything I say, aren't you?'
'Oh be quiet Cain. If it doesn't concern me, you know I won't pay attention to you.'
She could hear Cain grumbling in the back of her head, his voice vibrating around the walls of her mind.
'Well, excuse me for trying to teach you the art of eavesdropping.'
'Like I would need that skill.'
She set off towards the long line of buildings, passing by the occasional taveler also looking for refuge or supplies.
'You never know Lia. Eavesdropping happens to be a great skill.'
'And how would you know?'
'Well, when eavesdropping, you can learn things that otherwise wouldn't be said around you. I thought that was obvious.'
She shook her head, catching her eye on a small wooden sign above her head. The image of a bed, beer, and steak carved into the old and rotted wood. Time had not been king to it.
'I know that. But let me ask you this then, why would I need to eavesdrop on someone to learn information you already know?'
'...'
She smiled at his silence, practically picturing the face he would be making. His brows in a crescent frown, face strewn, and mouth agape as if he was about to say something, but failed in finding the words.
To keep herself from laughing, she entered the inn, finding a small and well lit open floor filled with tables and chairs. The room seemed to be much bigger than the building itself, and Lia knew then that they must have carved into the mountain face to make it more spacious.
This was confirmed to her when she approached the front desk amidst the many people who were busy eating and drinking, enjoying themselves.
Not a single one paid her a spare glance as she made her way through the crowds.
Half the floor was made of old wood that had seen much better years, while the other half was made from stone, her boots making small clacks on the wood every step she took.
'So they carved into the mountain. It's…actually quite nice.'
'Wait till you see the vast sandstone castles of Safaria. Those are truly something to praise.'
She sighed, wondering what they would look like, if they would be anything like the rumors told. Of course, though Lia was never allowed to go with her family on these trips, these rumors always made it back to her ears through the maids or servants.
'No offense Cain, but I don't like sand.'
As such, she didn't want to be reminded of a place she could never see, a palace she could never visit, and a world she would never be a part of.
Whether Cain read her mind or not, she didn't know.
'I said sandstone, not sand - you know what just, never mind. You ruin all my fun.'
She chucked to herself, finding his words similar to a child's when he was told not to play in the mud.
Reaching the front desk for the inn, Lia looked around for a bartender or the innkeeper. However, she didn't seem to see anyone who could help her. The waitresses and all the other people who could have directed her to a person in charge, were too busy helping other customers.
As such, she sat down at the bar to wait, her eyes passing over the wide room of stone and wood. Eventually, they stopped, resting on a small piece of square wood that occupied the wall between her and the bar. On it, several dozens of papers were resting, one on top of another.
'These must be noticed from the Post. I wonder what they're about? Can't be much up here on these jagged rocks.'
'You'd be surprised Lia, monsters are the cockroaches of all creatures. There's actually an old saying on things like this.'
'What's that?'
'Monsters exist wherever you may find darkness. Monsters exist wherever there may be light.'
'That doesn't make sense, then they would exist anywhere and everywhere, wouldn't they?'
'Correct. That's the point. Monsters dwell in the darkness, but they are beasts who consume the light. To consume the light, the monsters must feed. So…?'
Lia thought for a moment, turning her eyes over the dozens of flyers on the bulletin board.
'Where there is light, there is shadow.'
'Correct.'
Lia turned her attention from Cain and their conversation, finding a particular interest in a small notice on the wall.
Cain of course, took notice as well.
'Why bother with the Post notices. You're traveling right now, it wouldn't do much to help you. In fact it would just be a hindrance.'
'I know that, but still, what's the harm in looking? What if we find one we can knock off while traveling.'
'Like…?'
Lia looked over the notices again, hoping to find one that was high paying but also easy to do. Something that wouldn't cause them to go out of their way to do it.
__________________
NOTICE:
"Herb Hunt"
~ Find twelve Crescent Elven moon glows ~
~ Ten Forest Moss ~
~ Fifteen White Pearl ~
~ Eighteen Lost Echo Fruits ~
Reward: 10 gold.
(Will pay for partial)
__________________
*
__________________
NOTICE:
"Bandit Attacks"
~ Take down twelve separate Bandit hideouts - locations will be given out on leave ~
Reward: 50 gold
__________________
*
__________________
NOTICE:
~ Escort two travelers to Neverdark and back - All expenses paid for ~
Reward: 65 gold
__________________
At first, Lia was tempted to take the "Herb Hunt" notice, as - even if they didn't find all the herbs - they would still walk away with something.
But as she was about to wave down a waitress for the notice, Cain spoke his tune, distracting her.
'What's that one. Quite an odd notice.'
Lia turned to see an old piece of paper sticking out from one side of the bulletin board. Its color showed that it had been there for a very, very long time. Possibly years.
'Huh, now I'm curious.'
Just then, one of the barmaids made their way over to her, seeing that she was without a drink, she offered to make her one.
"Oh, um…just a small glass of whiskey please."
As the barmaid was making her the drink, Lia pointed to the old piece of paper on the board.
"Excuse me, I hate to bother you again, but could I see that notice there?"
The barmaid turned to board, grabbed the paper, and turned it over.
"Ah, you're a Hunter then. Here you go, that paper has been there for years but the owner never takes it down."
"Do you know why?"
As Lia took the notice in her hands, her interest growing now with each passing second, the barmaid shrugged, speaking as if it was common knowledge.
"Some big shot pays the owner tons to keep the notice up every year. Last I checked it was something like 50 gold a month."
"That's 600 gold a year…"
Lia mumbled to herself, wondering what could be so interesting about his notice that the owner would be paid such a large amount to keep it up.
"No one's taken the notice yet. Say there's nothing in it but a headache."
The barmaid shook her head and walked off, attending to another customer, leaving Lia to sink in her own conspiracy.
And it was well earned when she saw the details of the notice.
______________________
NOTICE:
~ Investigate the disappearance of Voln Dorrow, missing year 585 ~
URGENT - Client is willing to pay any price!
Reward: Limited - 500 gold
______________________
'Year 585…that was three years ago.'
'Indeed. Perhaps he's dead by now?'
Lia shook her head, knowing that the client wouldn't have kept this notice up with such a vast amount of money every year. And for three years for that matter.
'Parents will do very strange and quite idiotic things when their child goes missing.'
'What makes you think the client is his parents?'
'Because of their idiotic behavior. Who spends 600 gold a year just to keep a piece of old paper on the wall. My guess is that they're not even really looking for him. They just want to make it seem like they are.'
'Cain…'
'What?'
She sighed, folding the paper before putting it in her pocket.
'You always see the worst in people.'
'Because the worst is what you always have to be wary of. Why bother looking for something good in someone when it won't harm me?'
He finally noticed the piece of paper in Lia's pocket, his brows furrowing from his spot watching over her.
'You're taking it with you?'
'Sure, why not? I figured if someone is going to pay that much, and if what you said is true, then it's a big reward to just prove to a grieving family that their son is dead.'
'....now who's the mean one?'
'Oh please, you inspired this.'
'Suppose I did.'
Cain admitted, watching as Lia began to move from her spot at the bar, but stopped when the sounds of a conversation reached her ear.
Behind her, at a small table, two men - workers of some kind - were busy drinking beer, talking to one another just loud enough for Lia to hear them over the rest of the people in the inn.
"Did you hear the rumors going around?"
One of the men asked, clearly enthusiastic while the other was not.
"What? You mean those lies about the Outpost. Like that place could have been overrun with monsters."
"But it's true. I heard it from a traveler who passed through."
"Oh? And when did this little 'event' happen?"
The enthusiastic man thought for a moment before responding, careful with his words around his non believing friend.
"It's not some 'little' event, and it happened only two days ago."
"Ha! Then how could a traveler come all the way here, in just two days."
"He did it in one, and he was on horseback! I'm telling you, it was a courier set to inform the local Post about the Outpost. I'm telling you it's true!"
The other man slammed his beer mug down on the table, causing a thud to jolster the other man back a bit.
"Fine. Let's say I believe you, then what happened? And explain it to me the way you heard it from this 'couriers' mouth?"
The first man looked like he was about to jump for joy at the thought of explaining all this in detail. He clearly did not understand the weight of it all and therefore needed to speak it aloud in order to make it clear.
"The rumor goes that the mayor and Town Speaker - Kara Evergreen - lost her mind in her search for power and control over the city. She was a tyrant, I tell you! Randolph was the only one standing in her way, him and some unknown Hunters. So, she set loose a stampede of Grockoils on the city to then try and pin it all on Randolph's failure as a Postmaster."
"Ha! Like Evergreen could do that! Randolph is the best Postmaster we've had in this area in decades. I'd grab my own ax and join him at his side before I let that b*tch take him down."
The first man tried to calm down his field, whose voice was getting a little too loud, attracting the occasional glance, but that was all.
"Hush! Keep your voice down. I'm telling you it's all true. But, here's where it gets better. Some unknown Hunters took down Evergreen and her support, saving the whole town."
"So an average hero story. What's so different about them from every other hero story that passes through these ears?"
"The best part of it all is that there was another Hunter that caught everyone's attention. The Black Knight."
Lia's head instantly locked in place, her body refusing to move.
'Black Knight?'
She hesitantly asked Cain, who confirmed it with his next words.
'Sh*t. Guess the rumor spread already.'
The two men continued talking as if the conversation had reached its climax.
"This Black Knight, what's so special about him, hm?"
"The Black Knight took on five Grockoils by himself!"
"You lie. There's no way that can happen. A normal Hunting party would have to be ten strong just to take down one!"
"That's what makes this so special. I'm telling you this now, from all truth and blood in my body, this Knight used magic!"
At the sound of magic, the second man grew quiet, looking at his friend with stern eyes.
"Now I know you're pulling my leg."
"It's true. He might be a summoner for all I know, but he was fighting with his own hands. He had the strength to crack a Grockoil's neck!"
"Then he couldn't have had a Wizard class summons. Please, those guys hardly fight at all, they just fling around their magic. But…"
"You're catching on aren't you? Go on then."
"But…why would a summoner fight with his own two hands? A summoner sends their summons into battle, not fight with their own hands? I've heard of some cases, but none with spells?"
He turned to his friend with a skeptical gaze.
"You sure it wasn't a skill?"
"No, I'm telling you it was a spell. Fire. Speed. You name it!"
Lia finally found the courage to get up from her seat and move away, passing the two men like it was nothing to her.
But secretly, her mind was spinning.
'Why didn't I think about that. A wizard class summoner using his own hands to fight battles. A summons would just be an accessory then!'
'Calm down Lia, they don't know it was you.'
'But Randolph might?!'
'No he won't. I erased every trace of you there when we were fighting. Besides, that was my fighting technique - though sloppy considering I wasn't in my body - it didn't match yours.'
His words, he found, clearly didn't persuade Lia from feeling less stressed and anxious as she made her way out of the inn quickly, heading for the Post to meet with Rian and Lukali.
'Lia, the finger is not and never was pointing at you. But if you make it point at you, then you have only yourself to blame!'
At the harshness of his tone, Lia flinched, realizing quickly that if Cain hadn't spoken so loudly, then she wouldn't have snapped out of it.
'I…I'm sorry.'
'Fear is powerful, so use it against others, not against yourself.'
'...I understand.'
She took a deep breath and headed off, making her way towards the Hunter's Post, notice in hand.
She needed to take her mind off this Dark Knight drama.
And she knew the perfect way to do that.
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